Back in the stone age, when Fred and Barney worked at the Quarry for Mr. Gotrocks, people were responsible for their own debts. The remedies for healthcare were; pay your own way, pay out of pocket for the usual and carry major medical insurance, Insure your family with a "Usual, customary, and reasonable UCR private policy, work for a company that provided insurance, Work off your bill over time, or declare bankruptcy and become debt free. In any of those circumstances the citizen was free to choose what level of participation he preferred.

IMHO, in this age, being held personally responsible for your medical debts should be incentive enough for most people to insure themselves; if only major medical for catastrophe.

In the 50s my Grand Mother had a stroke and needed extra care. She lived in our house, where family members could give the extra care she needed without the extra expense of a facility.

In today's world it acceptable for young adults to live with Mom and Dad because they can't make it, while our elderly and ill are cared for by big government programs.

The short wuick answer to health care is personal responsibility. The uninsured would eventually take bankruptcy, but that can be a learning experience. Or, they could make payment arrangements and work off the hospital bills. Or, they could purchase insurance (that's the educational value of the first two outcomes)

The trouble is, That's not fair. That's not an equal outcome.

... and eliminate the need for State licensure to provide medical care... States can still offer that service and much like board certification would be something the patient could take into account or not.

Perhaps providers should require their customers have healthcare insurance to lower the providers financial risk.

Healthcare Insurance is not healthcare... it is a personal finance tool just like homeowners (which you might be required to have by the lender to get a mortgage), auto (which you may be required to have to drive on public roads), life (which your employer may require you to have or have on you), etc. Removing much if not all of the Federal and State regulation from healthcare insurance... and all insurance products... would be a good step. Means tested vouchers to citizens is at least an improvement over large government bureaucracies failing to do something directly.

The two areas I can think of which would alleviate the problem, after repeal of ocare, are tort reform(opposed by the lawyers who make their living off of medical lawsuits) and portability of insurance policies to all areas of the country. The latter would allow the development of competition for the dollars of the citizens to insure them. Medical insurance need not be restricted by state lines nor area of the nation a person lives in. In a phrase, let the free market decide which insurance company succeeds or fails.Those which meet the needs of the folks best would make it, the others fail. Simple to me.

Government does nothing efficiently. The problem we have is that power is an aphrodisiac and the entrenched mutton-heads in DC don't want to give it up.

We need to peel this government back all the way to the original Constitution.

Hmmm, Capitalism? What a unique idea, do you think it might work? Isn't forcing people to buy something a better way to improve it and make it better and cheaper? I wonder what kind of idea Dr. Ben Carson might have on the subject?

You are exactly correct!

Well said. There must be a solution. This is not the time for The Rise and Fall of The United States of America to be written.

The U.S. medical system was broken long before Obamacare came along and made it worse. Achieving a free market in health care will involve much more than simply repealing Obamacare, it will require repeal of a huge number of federal and state regulations that restrict the supply and drive up the cost of "approved" practitioners and medical devices.

I am retired military and am on government healthcare, called TriCare. It is not bad as long as you don't use it. I have been fairly healthy since retiring and have not really used it much. The 1 or 2 instances when I did, I have had issues with having to be referred to other doctors form my primary physician. I have also had issues with the government screwing with providers. My area had one provider for the whole western US, then it terminated their contract and went with another provider. The other issue is the government's definition of coverage areas. Luckily I live within 40 miles of an active AFB or I would lose my coverage if I was outside the 40 miles. All in all, it works but badly and I do not believe it would work for the general population. The other alternative is the VA and look at the mess they have there. They are trying to turn it around and I think they have the right guy in Mr. McDonald to do it. Now just to get around the usual government bureacracy.

Concierge doctor care, health care accounts, cash for treatment, etc. Get both the insurance companies and the government out of interfering with the doctor-patient relationship. Middlemen and government bureaucrats are the reason for health care costing ten times what it should.

Government has a tendency to break things that aren't broken and then try to fix what they have broken with more rules and regulations that cause further harm.
I don't hold out much hope for repeal. These young people have been conditioned and convinced that private insurance companies are "evil" because they "profit" from health insurance.
Never is there any thought to the cost nor to the expense and complexity of the government takeover of their lives.

Actually, people are simply moving away from it, penalties be d____d. (There are alternatives, by the way, that don't depend on this law staying in force.)

:-)

According to the Census Bureau, there are 146,311,000 registered voters in America and an estimated 37% voted in the midterms. That means the majority of the 54,133,070 of we who voted told Washington to f**k off. Instead of listening, the 556 idiots in Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court are telling We The People to go screw ourselves. You are so right Mimi, we need change now!!!!

Repeal and replace is the manta that cost Romney his election. The republicans better figure out quickly that six year into this--people still want government out of health care. End this nightmare and sort out the damage later, but get the government out of our personal lives now!!!!

Darn phone keys too close together. Screaming!

I am dreaming the same thing with you!